Gun sight



Jan. 9, 1923. 1,442,015. E. D. TILLYER.

GUN SIGHT.

FILED JULY 8,1919.

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I 3 2 6 W W INyENTOR E,D.TILLYER A TORNEYS Patented .ian. 9, i923.

unrrsn STATES mama PATENT orrics.

I EDGAR D. TILLYER, OF SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN OPTICAL COMPANY, OF SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, A VOLUNTARY ASSOCIA- TION 0F IVIASSACHUS ETTS.

GUN SIGHT.

Application filed July 8, 1919. Serial No. 309,475

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDGAR D. TiIJiYnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Southbridge, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gun Sights, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in sights for fire control and has for its principal object the provision of a novel and improved form of sight to facilitate ready and accurate aiming. Prior to my present invention attempts have been made to produce a fire control device in which one eye could be fixed on the object. and the other eye caused to superimpose a cross or other figure upon the object when the piece was properly aimed, but great difficulty was experienced in the manufacture of such instruments rendering them practically impossible of production, while open to the objection of parallax and distortion of the image as well as the difficulty of manufacturing.

A further object, therefore, of my present invention is the provision of a novel and improved sight which shall be of maximum efliciency and extremely simple construction capable of being practically produced and at a relatively low expense, but which will have extreme accuracy, freedom from parallax, and will produce a clear image without noticeable distortion.

Another object of my present invention is improved construction possessing the foregoing advantages. and in addition being so adapted that it may be satisfactorily employed for use at night or in cloudy or other places of poor illumination, but which shall be of extremely compact form and with no exposed light to attract the attention of hostile forces.

Other objects and advantages of my improved construction should be'readily apparent by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and it will be understood that I may make any modifications in the specific details of construction shown and described within the scope of .the appended. claims without departing from or exceeding the spirit of my invention.

Figure I is an illustration of the target as seen when my improved sight is employed.

Figure II represents a view of the cross bearing plate of my improved sight.

Figure III represents a longitudinal sectional view of one form of my sight.

Figure IV represents diagramatically the application or use of my improved sight.

Figure V represents a sectional view of a slightly modified form of my invention.

It is a well known and recognized fact that in the normal individual the eyes when in relaxed condition, as when looking at objects over thirty feet away, are fixed, as the expression is, at infinity, or in other words, to receive parallel rays of light. There is, however, here a double parallel condition: that is the focus of each eye is such that parallel rays of light striking that particular eye will form or produce an image in that eye, while similarly the lines of vision of the two eyes are parallel. My improvedsight makes use of this well known principle.

Broadly speaking, my sight may be considered as consisting of a tube or frame 1, having at one end a disc 2, preferably of ground glass or similar material darkened to leave a white cross or other image member 3 on the disc. It is not essentiaL however. that the member 2 be translucent so that the cross willbe exteriorily illuminated. If desired I may place at the side of the tube the reiiector member 4 shading the eye of the observer, but directing a beam from the source of illumination 5 onto the image 3 to illuminate the same. This feature, or a correspomling one, in placing a luminous image at 3. is particularly desirable when the sight is intended to be used at night or under very 1)()()1 illumination conditions.

Disposed at the opposite end of the tube or frame 1 is my improved lens or lens system 6, preferably so constructed as to be aplanatic and of such power that emergent rays will be parallel so that to the eye of the observer looking into the tube the image 3 will appear at infinity. In the use of my improved sight, it is suitably secured in rela tion to the bore of the instrument for the correct line of sight to cause the projectile from the weapon to strike the target when the image is superimposed upon the target in the customary manner. The gun sighter then takes his position adjacent the sight with both eyes open, one eye being disposed adjacent the lens 6 or in position to look through the lens 6, while the other eye is iixed upon the desired target. The result is that as the two eyes are both focused at infinity and the lilies of sight in parallel relation. the free eye of the sighter will pick up the target, and it is then merely necessary to swing the weapon 'until the image 3 appears superimposed on the desired point of the target. as indicated in Figure I.

In addition by the use of my improved sight with its single relatively thin lens or lens system. parallax is avoided so that the eye may be shifted around without causing displacement of the image, the device may be inexpensively yet durably manufactured and produced. an item of great importance, particularly under present conditions where maximum output in minimum time is essential, a maximum field with minimum of distortion is provided --and as very little of the light or illumination is taken up by the lens system a very clear image is produced.

As before mentioned, my sight if desired may be illuminated for night work or the like. while the fact that in making use of my improved sight in place of one eye being closed or eliminated as a visual member during the sighting operation, both eyes are equally employed, the one eye being absolutely free, serving to take in a large range of the target and its immediate surroundings, and being employed in an absolutely normal manner in picking out the particular portion of the target or particular object on.

which it is desired to sight the gun in question, while the other eye is also relaxed and without strain and views the image, and apparently so far as the effect on the brain cells is concerned shows the image as located at some point on the general land scape viewed by the other eye.

It will thus be seen that my sight is capable of use at night as well as at day as long as there is any illumination Whatever, and is capable of use under conditions where no other sight now known could be satisfactorily employed, on account of its possibilities of illumination of the clear image of the object at 3 which is transmitted through the lens and projected to infinity and the fact that this image can be made to overlie anything which can be distinguished at all by the free or open eye or even by the free eye assisted by a telescope or other instrument.

lVhile for compactness I have illustrated the light 5 as contained within the sight, it will be understood that if preferred and as illustrated in Figure VI it could be contained in a cap detachably mounted on the front of the sight, a screen 7 being preferably interposed in the cap 8 between the light and screen to diffuse the light and eliminate the filament itself appearing in any way in connection with the image member.

I claim:

1. A device for sighting guns comprising a member adapted to blank off one eye, said device having a visual aperture, an object screen arranged within the device, and an aplanatic lens-supported by the device and spaced from the object to project it to infinity as viewed thru the lens.

2. A device for sighting guns comprising a member adapted to blank ofl one eye, said device having a visual aperture, an object screen at one end of the device bearing a luminous object and a lens carried by the device its focal length from the object whereby the image is projected by the lens to infinity.

3. A device for sighting guns comprising a member adapted to blank 011? one eye, said device having a vlsual aperture, an object screen arranged within the device, a lens disposed a focal length from the screen whereby the imageof the object as viewed through the lens is'projected to infinity.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

E. D. TILLYER.

Witnesses:

ESTHER M. LAFEER, H. E. COLEMAN. 

